Facilitators of development or Kapos for capital: the primrose path to GATS

This article arose from work undertaken on behalf of a UK-based NGO developing a policy response to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It looks at GATS as a key to locating development NGOs (NGDOs) within the broader field of development aims and practices, examining the long-term implications of GATS with respect to the idea of a ‘fourth position’ for such NGOs. It is argued that this theoretical position fails to take into account changing imbalances of power between NGDOs and their Southern counterparts that began under structural adjustment, as a consequence of which many NGDOs now occupy a position from which effective mediation between civil society, the state, and the market would be difficult if not impossible. In addition, GATS represents a step-change along the evolutionary path towards a market-oriented ideology whose verticalist worldview represents a profound contradiction to the avowedly progressive aims of most NGDOs.     

Books in review

co-author of The Dilemma of American Immigration: Beyond the Golden Doorand author of Catholic High Schools and Minority Students,published by Transaction. He has also written The Catholic Myth.     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder’s Traumatic Stressor Criterion: History, Controversy, and Clinical and Legal Implications

This paper discusses posttraumatic stress disorder’s (PTSD) traumatic stressor criterion (Criterion A) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The history of the stressor criterion is detailed, including how it has changed over time in successive versions of the DSM. We discuss controversy over the stressor criterion, regarding arguments about whether it is too conservative or too liberal. Studies comparing Criterion A and non-Criterion A events in their association with PTSD are discussed, including the finding across studies that non-Criterion A events are just as (or more) likely to result in PTSD. Potential explanations to account for this finding are discussed, including presentation of solutions to Criterion A’s limitations. Finally, legal implications for Criterion A in evaluating individuals presenting with PTSD in civil and criminal cases are discussed.     

Support for emergency department screening for intimate partner violence depends on perceived risk

Emergency department (ED) screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) faces logistic difficulties and has uncertain efficacy. We surveyed 146 ED visitors and 108 ED care providers to compare their support for ED IPV screening in three hypothetical scenarios of varying IPV risk. Visitor support for screening was 5 times higher for the high-risk (86%) than for the low-risk (17%) scenario. Providers showed significantly more support for the need for ED IPV screening than visitors. Controlling for confounding by gender, race, experience with IPV, hospital, and marital status did not affect comparisons between groups. These responses indicate greater support for IPV screening in the ED for high-risk than for low-risk cases, particularly among visitors.     

Reconciliation between Korea and Japan

Although Japan and Korea formally normalized their relationsin 1965, these neighbours remain wary of each other becauseof their awkward history during the first half of the twentiethcentury, when Japan annexed Korea and oppressed the Koreansin many ways. Korean scholars believe strongly that this annexationwas "illegal" and that it constituted a violation of internationallaw when it occurred. Japanese scholars tend to admit that theJapanese occupation of Korea was brutal and caused enormoussuffering, but they are reluctant to acknowledge that the annexationwas "illegal", because other great powers were annexing smallcountries during that period. The US action supporting the overthrowof the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 and annexing Hawaii in 1898may be helpful in finding an appropriate resolution to the Japan–Koreastandoff. In 1993, the US Congress enacted a joint resolutionformally apologizing to the Native Hawaiian people and callingfor a "reconciliation" between the United States and the NativeHawaiians. This resolution acknowledged that the US diplomaticand military support for the 1893 overthrow was "illegal" andwas in violation of "international law". This strong statementseems to be an application of "intertemporal law", whereby presentviews of international law are applied to the events of the1890s, but, in any event, it is a powerful acknowledgment thata wrong occurred, causing injuries that can still be felt today.The reconciliation process between the United States and NativeHawaiians is now under way and, to be complete, it will requirethe restoration of the sovereignty of the Native Hawaiians anda return of land and resources to them. Japanese officials haveoffered apologies to the Koreans, but the reconciliation betweenthe two countries can become complete only if these apologiesare accompanied by a transfer of items of real value. This paperproposes that proper payments to the Korean comfort women anda renunciation by Japan of its claim to Dokdo/Takeshima (thetiny islands claimed by both countries) could serve to formalizethe reconciliation between these two neighbours.     

Tigers and Flies

正At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC) in November of 2013,much of the focus was placed on anticipated economic and social reforms.However,one area that both casual observers and Western news media mistakenly assumed that had been overlooked was the issue of corruption.